I began my martial arts "journey" looking for self defense over 14 years ago, and I am now a kendoist and not a self-defensist. In my very heavily kendo-influenced opinion, I no longer believe that "self-defense" actually exists, and that there is only "offense" and "retreat". Which in my opinion causes a problem, simply that people who initially seek "self defense" training (such as my self at the time), have a real hard time accepting that in order actually adequately defend, you must learn how to mount a credible offense. Which means you have to learn how to dominate and control a situation through the threat of or application of real force. At the time, my instructor told all of us that "martial arts is lousy self defense", and I either didn't understand him or refused to accept his view. Now after doing kendo for several years I think I understand him better. So for me, Kendo has been good to learn self-defense. Kendo has taught me that "self-defense" is a polite fiction and does not exist, in that there is nothing to defend and such a "self-defense" mentality already puts you at a disadvantage against an assailant. Second, again heavily influenced by my kendo training, my opinion is that "in real life", a person who is very motivated to do you injury can move much faster than most people who do "self-defense" training train at, for obvious reasons for safety. Lastly, Kendo has also begun teaching me about "seme", and particularly the "application of seme without a shinai". One consequence of learning about "seme" is that I am also becoming aware of when I'm in trouble. I can tell now, even in some non-kendo situations, when my situation is not ideal. I think that paying attention to what is going on around you constantly and learning when to avoid obvious traps is a good thing to know in terms of "self-preservation". Do I say this to people who ask about kendo as self-defense? No, never.